Kitabı oku: «Missing Persons», sayfa 3

FOUR

“Who’s there?” To Lauren’s disgust, her voice wobbled on the last word.

“Me.” Dee knocked again. “Who were you expecting? Jack the Ripper?”

Lauren pulled the door open, stepping aside to let her sister in. “I don’t know, but I wasn’t expecting you. What are you doing back so early?”

“Early? I’m not seventeen anymore, sis. This is late.”

“Right. You came to check up on me.”

“Okay. So I came back to see what was going on. Sue me.”

“That would require a lawyer, and I’ve had about all I can take of lawyers for one evening.”

“I’d sympathize, but you did it to yourself, offering to meet Seth’s son tonight.”

“It seemed like the right thing to do at the time.”

“Did it?” Dee settled down into an overstuffed chair. “To me it seemed crazy.”

Lauren laughed and settled down on the sofa. “Why don’t you try being blunt next time?”

“I call it like I see it. So? Tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“What happened.”

“Nothing happened. I went to Seth’s house, met his son, looked at the list of Jake’s allergens, came back here.”

“Way to cut out all the details, sis.”

“Those are the details.”

“You and Seth didn’t say one word to each other on the ride from the inn to his house? Not one word from his house here? Come on, Laur, I know there’s more to the story than you’re telling.”

“Because you want there to be more. There isn’t though. Just boring conversation between two people who used to know each other.” Sure there’d been a hint of attraction still there, but that wasn’t something Dee needed to know, and it wasn’t something Lauren planned to share.

Or dwell on.

Seth was the last person she wanted to spend time thinking about.

“Too bad. I was hoping for some juicy tidbits to share with the girls.” She smirked and ran a hand over her hair. “Anyway, nosiness isn’t the only thing that brought me back here. Steff asked when we’d be ready to launch the Magnolia Falls: Where Are They Now Web site. I wanted to check with you on that before Jennifer and I gave her an answer.”

“Any time Jen is ready.” The owner of a nursery school in Magnolia Falls, Jen Pappas had always been great with computers, and Lauren had enlisted her help with designing the Web site.

“Monday? That’ll give you two days to clean out your e-mail in-box before you’re inundated with alumni news.”

“Inundated? I’m just hoping we’ll get back in touch with a few people we went to school with.” Several of those people hadn’t returned for their ten-year reunion. In itself, that wasn’t worrisome. The fact that a body had been found on campus was. Could it be one of the people she’d gone to school with? Shared laughter, tears and friendship with? Lauren prayed not.

“Be prepared anyway. Steff sent a letter out to alumni letting them know about the site.”

“I got it the other day. Of course, receiving notice about the Web site doesn’t mean participating in it. There will be plenty of people who won’t bother signing the guest book or filling out the information questionnaire.”

“True. We’ll see what happens Monday. Jennifer and I have got things set up so that guest book entries have to be approved before they’re seen on the site. That way we’ll have a chance to screen things before they’re out for public view. We decided that could be your job for now. When you get tired of doing it, one of the rest of us will take over.”

One of the rest of them included Dee, Steff, Cassie, Jennifer or Kate. Close friends in college, they’d made it a point to stay close in the years since. “I suppose you all voted on this while I was away from the table.”

“Yep. We figured you were on vacation and had more time than the rest of us.”

“You figured that since I left the fund-raiser early you could foist the job off on me.”

“That, too.”

Lauren laughed and tossed a throw pillow at her sister.

Dee caught it and stood, stretching her lean frame, the vivid blue of her dress striking against fair skin. Thirty-two and still single. With her looks and personality, Lauren had thought her sister would have married long ago.

Lauren had thought she would have married long ago, too.

Yet here they both were single and unattached.

And happy about it?

For her part, yes. She wasn’t so sure about her sister.

“What?” Dee brushed a hand across her mouth. “Do I have something on my face?”

“No, I was just thinking that you should have gone to the fund-raiser with some handsome Prince Charming. Not with me.”

“Please. As if there is such a thing.” She started toward the front door. “I’m going to head back to the house. Want to come up and watch a movie?”

“No, I think I’ll unpack and read for a while.”

“Suit yourself. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She stepped outside and Lauren followed, hovering in the doorway as Dee walked toward the house, the same fear that had shivered along her spine before Dee arrived lodging in her throat once again as she watched her sister move toward the darkness at the edge of the house.

“Are you going in the back door?”

Dee turned to face Lauren again. “No.”

“I’ll walk around front with you.”

“Why?”

Because she was worried about a murderer who might not even exist. “It’s dark.”

“Lauren, I come home after dark six nights out of seven.”

“I know, but…” But what? “Seth was saying—”

“I knew you discussed more than his son’s food allergies.”

“He was saying that the remains found beneath the sidewalk might belong to someone who had been murdered.”

“And? We’ve discussed that possibility a hundred times.”

“And he mentioned the fact that a murderer may be wandering around Magnolia Falls.”

Dee laughed. “You still haven’t outgrown your penchant for worry, have you? But there’s no need for it in this instance. First of all, we’re not in Magnolia Falls. Secondly, if there is a murderer lurking around somewhere, he’s had plenty of opportunity to kill again. Since the police haven’t found bodies spread across town, I think I’m safe.”

Lauren’s cheeks heated at her sister’s words.

Dee was right of course. Of the two, Lauren had always been the cautious one. The one prone to worry and wondering. Imagining worst-case scenarios. Monsters in closets. “Okay, so I’m worried, but maybe Seth is right. Maybe we all should be a little more cautious until the police find out what happened to the poor woman they found.”

“Look, if it’ll make you feel better, I’ll go in the back door.”

“It will.”

Dee rolled her eyes, but nodded. “Fine. You stand and watch until I get inside. Not that either of us will be much good if a murderer really is out here. What do either of us know about self-defense?”

Not much, but Lauren decided not to think about that as she watched Dee make her way across the yard and into the house. Thinking about it would only make her worry, and worry was something she had too much practice at.

As soon as the back door closed, Lauren shut and locked the carriage house door, barring it against the darkness on the other side. Silly, she knew. But necessary. She checked the windows, the French doors, pulled the curtains and shades. Surveyed the cozy living room and kitchen area. Everything closed up tight.

Perfect. Now she could do her Bible study, relax a little, maybe log on to her computer and start planning Jake’s meals. A nice cup of tea would be good. Maybe one of the scones she’d made that morning and brought with her on the trip.

Lauren grabbed both, then settled onto the love seat.

“Love is patient. Love is kind.”

First Corinthians Thirteen?

Today was definitely not a good day to be reading about love. Maybe she’d skip a day ahead in her Bible study. She tried to focus on the next chapter, but her mind spun back to a time when love had seemed not just possible, but very, very real.

“What’s wrong, Lola?” Seth cupped her face in his hands, his eyes the green of spring and of hope.

“You’re leaving for college in a week. I’m going to miss you.”

“I won’t be that far away.” He smiled, his fingers trailing from her jaw to her neck, amusement dancing in his eyes. “Just an hour’s drive.”

“Until I get my license and a car, it may as well be twenty hours away.”

“I’ll come home every weekend.”

“You say that now.” She and Seth had been going together for two years. He kept telling her that his leaving wouldn’t change that, but she didn’t believe him. There would be plenty of girls at the small college he’d chosen to attend. Plenty of girls who were probably more outgoing, more exciting than Lauren.

“And I mean it.” Amusement was replaced by fire, his eyes glowing with sincerity. “I love you, Lola. How could I ever stay away from you for more than a few days?”

His words melted the ice in her chest, and she threw her arms around his broad, firm shoulders. “I love you, too, Seth.”

Love.

Right.

Lauren shook her head, trying to dislodge the memories and the sadness that went with them. All these years after Seth had broken her heart and the memories still had the ability to choke her up. That said something about her, and Lauren was afraid it wasn’t anything flattering.

Dreams. Hopes. Love.

They were part of the past and she really, really needed to leave them there.

She stood and paced across the floor. Of all the people that could have won her chef services, it seemed almost inconceivable that Seth was the top bidder.

“A few hundred people at the fund-raiser, and it had to be my old boyfriend who decided to make the highest bid. I guess you’ve got a reason, Lord, but I sure can’t figure out what it might be.”

Something scraped against the window above the kitchen sink and Lauren jumped, turning toward the sound, all thoughts of Seth, the past and God’s plan fleeing.

The sound came again. This time more of a knock than a scrape, and Lauren was sure someone was outside, pressing against the glass.

Her heart slammed in her chest as she turned off the living room light and stepped into the kitchen. Pull up the shade, Lauren. Look outside, you’ll see that no one is there.

Or maybe she’d see that someone was there.

Maybe she should call Dee and have her look out the upstairs window. See if she could spot anyone lurking near the carriage house. Or maybe she should just pull back the shade and see for herself. After all, someone standing on the other side of the glass couldn’t hurt her.

She grabbed the phone, held it in a sweaty hand as she eased the shade back from the window and stared into…nothing. No face with slitted, evil eyes. No ski masked Peeping Tom. Just darkness. She leaned toward the glass, peering into the area behind the carriage house. Something had knocked against the glass. That hadn’t been her imagination. A light by the French doors illuminated the backyard, and Lauren turned it on, then searched the lit area.

If someone had been there he was long gone.

As she watched a breeze ruffled the trees that lined the property and the bushes that abutted the back of the carriage house scraped against the siding. There. The sound she’d heard. Explained. So why was her pulse still racing, and what had she heard bumping against the glass? A branch? A stick? Nothing? The silence seemed almost eerie, the dark shadows that edged the property sinister. But then, compared to the well-lit, busy street she lived on in Savannah, anything would seem silent and dark.

Lauren let the shade drop back into place, but left the outside light on. She was pretty sure nothing but her imagination was skulking in the darkness, but keeping the yard lit seemed like a good idea. So did focusing on something other than bodies hidden for ten years; murderers. Seth. The best way to get him out of her mind was to get him out of her life, and that meant fulfilling her obligation.

She pulled her laptop out of its case, moved her ginger tea and scone to the small kitchen table and booted up the computer. A few minutes later, she was scrolling through nut-free, gluten-free recipes. A day or two and she’d have the menu planned, then it would just be a matter of going to Seth’s house and cooking the meals. It was the same thing she’d done hundreds of times before with dozens of clients. This time felt different, but she’d ignore that and concentrate on doing what she did best—creating fun, exciting meals for a kid whose diet was limited by allergies. When she was done she’d move on to the next client and put Seth and his son behind her.

She hoped. Though something told her there was going to be more to this job than cooking food and more to her relationship with Seth and Jake than business. What that might be she didn’t know. She could only pray that the end result would be something positive.

FIVE

The menus were done. Breakfast, lunch and dinner for seven days. Twenty-one meals. Fourteen snacks. Plenty of things a ten-year-old might enjoy. All Lauren had to do was call Seth and set up a day to cook the meals.

And she would.

Eventually.

For now, she was going to enjoy Sunday morning and not worry about seeing Seth again.

She pulled on a pale lavender sweater, ran her fingers through nearly dry curls and dusted on translucent powder. A little lip gloss, her purse and she was ready to go to church. Too bad she didn’t know where the nearest one was. Dee might, but Lauren doubted it. Her sister wasn’t much for attending church. She wasn’t much for religion, God, faith, but today was a new day. Maybe Dee would come along. It wouldn’t hurt to ask.

“You’re up early.” Dee swung open the front door to her house, her deeply shadowed eyes taking in Lauren’s appearance. “And ready to go. Should I guess where?”

“Church. Any suggestions?”

“Magnolia Christian.”

“I was thinking a little closer to your place.”

“Sorry. I’m sure there are a dozen within a mile of here, but I don’t know them.”

“It’s okay. I’ll head toward Magnolia Falls. If I don’t see a church before I reach Main Street, I’ll go to Magnolia Christian. Want to come?”

“It’s tempting, but I’m not dressed.” Dee smiled, but it was more gritted teeth than amusement.

“I can wait.”

“Sorry, sis. I’m not up for it this morning. Maybe next week.” Which meant maybe never.

Lauren bit back a sigh and conceded. Insisting would only cause an argument and hurt feelings. “I guess I’ll see you when I get back.”

“Or we could meet at the Half Joe around one. Have some coffee and something decadent. I can call the girls and see if anyone wants to join us.”

“That’s something I can definitely agree to.”

“See you then.”

Lauren nodded and started toward her car. A sixty-seven Mustang with gleaming yellow paint, it was her most daring purchase, something flashy and striking. Something un-Lauren-like.

Which had been the whole point.

Just once Lauren had wanted to be daring and different, edgy and fun. Maybe she’d achieved it, but there’d been no one around to tell her so. Just an empty Savannah apartment and a few carpenter ants that were trying to make their home in the walls.

A few miles outside of Magnolia Falls, Lauren spotted a small, white church set on a hill and thought about stopping, but it had been years since she’d attended Magnolia Christian Church, and she kept driving, winding her way along a rural road and into town.

Main Street was Sunday-morning quiet, the college campus barely awake. To the left, Magnolia Christian Church rose tall and handsome in the late-summer sun, the stone facade warm gray and inviting. There were so many memories here, so many good times and some that weren’t so good.

“Lauren!” Cassie Winters hurried across the parking lot, her hair glossy fire, her eyes sparkling green. “I was hoping you’d be here today. I’m so glad you came!”

“I thought about finding a church closer to Dee’s place, but Magnolia Christian just kind of called to me.”

“I’m glad. After the late night, I wasn’t sure any of the gang would be here.” Cassie linked an arm through Lauren’s and tugged her toward the church, her bouncy peppiness making Lauren feel almost sluggish in comparison.

“How late did you all leave?”

“After midnight. Things went well. Steff was pleased.”

“I’m glad. Things have been stressful for her lately.”

“Stressful, but good, too. I’m hoping she and Trevor will be here today. They’re so cute together.”

“Cute? Don’t tell her that.”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

Lauren laughed, the sound choking off as she caught sight of someone she hadn’t even imagined she’d see there. Tall. Golden-red hair. Green eyes.

As if he felt the weight of her gaze, Seth turned his head, his vivid eyes meeting hers. A quick, warm smile lit his face before he turned away. Lauren’s heart jumped, her pulse sped, and she silently called herself every kind of fool in the world.

“He’s still got it, doesn’t he?” Cassie’s amusement was obvious.

“Who has what?”

“As if you don’t know who I’m talking about. Mr. Tall, strawberry blond, handsome and completely charming.”

“Strawberry blond, tall and handsome, yes. Charming? That’s up for debate.”

“Hardly. Seth epitomizes Southern gallantry.”

“And you know this because…?”

“We’ve been attending the same church for a couple of years.”

“And you never thought to mention this to me?”

“Why would I? You guys were an item eons ago, and I don’t think you’ve mentioned his name once since you broke up. Far be it from me to be the one to bring him up.”

Lauren had avoided any discussion of Seth, his marriage, his son, his wife’s death, but it would have been nice to know he attended Magnolia Christian. If she had, she would have stopped at the little, white church on the hill. “Maybe coming today wasn’t such a good idea.”

Cassie raised an eyebrow. “Why? Because you wanted to avoid seeing Seth? That would seem like a wasted effort seeing as how you’re cooking meals for him and his son.”

“Don’t remind me.”

They were almost at the church doors, and Cassie stopped, turning to face Lauren. “Is it really that upsetting for you?”

“No, of course not. It’s just uncomfortable.”

“Uncomfortable is a pair of too-tight shoes, or vinyl car seats on a hot summer day. Cooking dinner for a man who broke your heart is another thing altogether.” Cassie’s normally cheerful expression had turned serious, her eyes searching Lauren’s face.

“I’ll handle it.”

“There’s no doubt in my mind that you will. Just be careful. Seth isn’t the same person he was when you two were dating. His focus is on his son, and he’s a great dad. That’s a pretty attractive quality. I’d hate to see you pulled into something that might not work out. I don’t want your heart to be broken again.”

“I’d have to fall for him to have my heart broken, and there is no way in this world I’d ever fall for Seth again.”

“Maybe not, but be careful anyway.” Cassie’s somber expression eased, and she grabbed Lauren’s hand. “Let’s head in. Hey, maybe we can go to the Half Joe after church. Grab a cup of coffee and something sweet and gooey.”

“Dee suggested the same thing.”

“Which just proves what a smart lady your sister is.”

Lauren laughed, her heels clicking on tile flooring as she walked into the church. It felt good to be here again. The buzz and hum of college students and Magnolia Falls residents, the echoes of laughter and conversation brought back memories of a time that had been much simpler. Sure there’d been stress in college—exams, the hurry of trying to finish her degree in three years rather than four, the worry about her relationship with Seth—but overall it had been fun, her dreams and hopes intact, her friends sure and true and steady. They still were. It was her dreams that had flown, her hopes that had to be readjusted. Marriage, a house in town, a white picket fence and cookies baking in the oven while children played in the yard. That’s what she’d wanted. Maybe she’d even expected it. What she’d gotten was a whole lot different.

Which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Years after the fact, she could finally acknowledge what she hadn’t been able to when Seth had broken up with her—marriage to him would have been a slow death. He’d been too confident and driven to have patience with Lauren’s timid emergence, her cautious entrance into the world.

She slid into the back pew next to Cassie and did her best to push thoughts of Seth out of her mind. She was here to worship and to learn, not to think about things that had never been part of God’s plan for her life.

As the pastor rose to give the morning announcements a young boy scooted into the pew next to Lauren. She glanced over, her smile freezing in place as she caught sight of Seth’s son. If he noticed who he was sitting with, he didn’t acknowledge it, just stared straight ahead, his cheeks fire-engine red, the tips of his ears bright pink.

Seconds later, Seth slid in next to him, offering Lauren a quick glance and a half smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Something was going on between father and son, but it wasn’t Lauren’s business.

She turned her attention back to the pastor, listening to the list of prayer requests and announcements and trying her best to ignore the redheaded boy beside her. That should have been easy enough. He was just a kid after all. Ten years old and gangly, as well. Freckled and pale when his cheeks weren’t flushed with embarrassment.

Just a kid.

Just Seth’s kid.

And somehow that made him impossible to ignore.

The prelude to the first hymn began, and Lauren reached for the hymnal, her hand bumping Jake’s as he reached for the same one.

“Sorry, ma’am.” He whispered the apology as he grabbed another book, his cheeks going scarlet again.

Poor kid.

“No problem. It’s Jake, right?” She spoke close to his ear, and was surprised by a quick grin that reminded her so much of Seth it speared her heart.

“Right. And you’re Miss Lauren. Dad said we shouldn’t sit by you, but I didn’t want to walk all the way to the front with everyone watching.”

“Understandable.”

“That’s what I thought.” His eyes were wide and green, his cheeks and nose splattered with freckles. He’d be a heartbreaker one day. Right now, he was just a little boy who buried his nose in the hymnal and seemed content to mumble rather than sing the words.

Lauren lifted her gaze, met Seth’s searching look. Whatever he was thinking was hidden by too many years of not knowing one another, and she turned away, determined not to glance in his direction again.

Seth should be paying attention to Pastor Rogers’s sermon, but his focus kept shifting. He could blame it on a late night or a stressful week, but Seth believed in calling things the way they were. He was distracted. Plain and simple. Not by his upset ten-year-old, not even by his own frustration with Jake’s timid nature. Not by late nights and busy days. No, he was distracted by Lauren. Her black skirt and pale purple sweater were a perfect foil for dark hair and porcelain skin. She hadn’t worn makeup, and her understated beauty reminded him of the way she’d looked the day they’d met. Sweet. Fragile. Needy. Nothing like the strong, confident woman of the previous night.

She scratched notes in a small leather journal as the pastor spoke. That, too, reminded Seth of the past. Lauren’s meticulous and careful nature had appealed to him when they’d met. Eventually, he’d come to resent those things. Young, brash, eager for life and adventure, he’d been sure that he needed to be with someone more like him. Someone ready to take the bull by the horn. Someone not afraid to take chances. He’d broken up with Lauren before he transferred to law school, breaking the promises he’d made while he was at it.

Did he regret it?

That was a question he’d never been able to answer. Not when his actions had given him Jake. But he did regret hurting Lauren. When he’d returned to Magnolia College to apologize, he’d gotten his first glimpse of the woman she’d one day become and had felt the first stirring of something beyond the protective, sheltering love he’d had for her.

Jake shifted in the pew, pulling Seth’s thoughts back to the present. He leaned close, whispering in his son’s ear. “You sure you don’t want to go to Sunday school?”

“And watch everyone eat Brandon’s birthday cupcakes? No way.”

He spoke loudly enough that several people glanced in their direction.

“Keep it down, buddy.”

“Sorry.” Jake’s cheeks turned tomato-red, and he slumped in his seat looking about as dejected as a ten-year-old could.

Lauren leaned toward him, whispering something in his ear that made him nod.

What had she said? Something that erased the dejection from Jake’s face, that was for sure.

Pastor Rogers concluded his sermon with a prayer for God’s purpose and will to be worked in the lives of each person in the congregation.

Seth added his own prayer—that God would help him be the kind of father Jake needed, that he wouldn’t repeat his own parents’ mistakes and cause a rift with his child that could never be healed. He didn’t think he could bear having Jake out in the world as Ellen was, without family.

“Guess what, Dad.” Jake turned to him as soon as the strains of the last hymn died out.

“What?”

“Lauren—”

“Miss Lauren.”

“Miss Lauren said she’s going to make brownies for me to bring to Sunday school next week.”

“Brownies?” He met Lauren’s eyes, smiling as heat crept up her cheeks. “Sans gluten? Is that possible?”

“Yes. And they’ll be so good Jake’s friends will be begging their mothers to make them for their birthdays.” She smiled, but Seth knew it was for Jake’s benefit. The look in her eyes was much cooler than her expression, her voice frosty despite the warmth of the words.

“Really?” Jake was nearly bouncing with excitement. “That would be great. Some of the guys think I’m weird because I can never eat the stuff they bring, and I want to show them that I’m the same as them.”

“Of course you are. All ten-year-old boys are weird.”

Jake’s eyes widened, then, to Seth’s surprise, he laughed. “Yeah, well I think all chefs are weird.”

“Jake—”

“It’s okay. If we’re both weird we’ll get along great.” Lauren smiled down at Jake, and Seth decided not to reprimand his son further.

“When can you make the brownies?”

“I’ll make them when I come over to cook your meals.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Probably not. Your dad and I have to work out a time after he approves the menu.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“You’ve got the menus done already?” She worked quickly. Probably hoping to get the job done and Seth out of her life as soon as possible. Seth couldn’t blame her for that.

“Yes. I’ll e-mail them to you later today. You can call me once you’ve looked them over.” Cool, professional, distant, her voice was everything it should be when speaking to a man she was doing business with. The thing was, there was a lot more than business between them, and for some reason he didn’t want to name, Seth had the urge to prove it.

“Lola—” He wasn’t sure what he wanted to say, what he could say that would break down the icy wall she’d erected, but Cassie Winters nudged at Lauren’s back and interrupted, her tone crisp and clipped.

“Aren’t we supposed to be meeting your sister at the Half Joe, Lauren?”

Even a dense man wouldn’t have missed the emphasis on Lauren’s name.

“Yes. We’d better get moving. I’ll talk to you soon, Seth. Bye, Jake.” They hurried away before Seth could finish whatever he’d been about to say. It was probably for the best. There really was nothing to say. The past was just that and had nothing to do with the job Lauren was being paid to do or the reasons why Seth had hired her. He’d do well to keep that in mind. Somehow, though, he had a feeling that was going to be a lot more difficult than it should be.